With spring in the air, it is time to get ready to welcome the newest members of nature’s families. Wild babies of any kind are absolutely adorable, and one of my personal favorites is a species that we are lucky to have close to home, the fox kits. Foxes have chosen to live near, and even among humans for about as long as humans have had permanent dwellings, largely due to the passive protection we provide simply by our presence. Larger predators tend to keep their distance on a regular basis, allowing foxes relative freedom to roam and hunt with less risk of themselves becoming the hunted.

Typically, adult foxes live alone and usually out in the “open” (seeking shelter at night, but generally not a home with any permanence). When mating season comes around and a litter is expected, they will dig a den, or make do with a human structure, oftentimes a shed or somewhat unused building where raising the litter won’t be disturbed too much.

As many long-time locals and followers of my Life in Nature photography page on Facebook know, our resident Old Town neighborhood female has blessed us with a few years’ worth of litters that were greatly enjoyed by the human neighbors as the kits romped about in the yard of the little used cabin she chose as her den.

If you happen to see a good bit of fox traffic around a structure on your property during this time of year, it is likely the mating pair taking turns going out on regular hunts to feed the kits before they are old enough to head out into the wide world. Another tell-tale sign of a den is the odor, which unfortunately can be quite foul (and noisy if it happens to be under your home). It should also be noted that when a fox has a large litter, the female may split the litter into two dens. Even when a litter is small, the mother may also move the kits to a different location, usually nearby, if she is not comfortable with the general safety of the place she chose to give birth.

Raising babies of any species of animal, humans included, takes a LOT of work and can be quite tiring, especially when the average is six at a time (as with foxes). Seen here, mama had been out on her “watch boulder” outside the den entrance, taking a brief nap away from the littles. One of her six had slipped out of the den looking for a bit of mother’s love, and while she didn’t seem the most amused at the kit’s initial demands, she quickly gave in to its need for a bit of nurturing.

It wasn’t long before dad came home with a few voles, sending the little one back into the den for dinner, leaving mama free from her “shift” and heading off to find a few more critters to feed the growing family and continuing her break-time from the never-ending duty of raising the next generation.

For additional information about James DeWalt Photography, check out https://jamesdewaltphotography.com.